Railroad construction.



PATENTED DEC. 31, 1907.

C. R. BOWEN. RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1907.

CARL R. BOWEN, OF FORDYOE, ARKANSAS. v

RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1907.

Application filed June 25, 1907. Serial No. 380.686.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL R. BOWEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fordyce, in the county of Dallas and State of Arkansas, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Railroad Constructions, of whichthe following is a specification.

The invention relates to an improvement in railroad construction, andparticularly to a metallic bed or support for the rails.

The main object of the present invention is the provision of a metallicrail support coextensive with the length of the rails and adapted toeffectively bind the rails in properly engaged positions and preventindependent movement of the rail ends when connected.

The invention will be described in the fol lowing specification,reference being had particularly to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a plan illustrating my improvement. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective of one of the securingbolts or rivets. Fig. 1 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Referring particularly to the drawings, my improved metallic railroadbed is made up in independent sections designed to underlie each rail.Each section comprises a base plate 1, which is preferably of materiallygreater width than the width of the base flange of the rail and is ofsubstantial length and thickness.

Secured to the underside of the base plate is what I term a reinforceplate 2, comprising a section of material of less width than that of thebase plate and centrally formedwith a longitudinally arranged dependingweb 3, preferably made up by suitably bending the material. Thereinforce plate is secured to the base plate through the medium ofrivets 4, which unite the plates at equidistant points I longitudinallythereof and are so relatively spaced transverse the base plate 1 thatsaid rivets when headed will partially overlie the edges of therail.fiange, thereby aiding in securing the rails to the base plate. Thereinforce plate 2 is secured to the base plate so that the web 3directly underlies the web of the rail, thereby materially strengtheningthe structure at this point and preventing any bending of the plate inuse.

As an additional aid in securing the rails to the base plate 1 certainof the rivets 4, preferably each alternate rivet is provided with aclamping bar 5 and formed with an opening to permit passage of the rivetproper and reduced at 6 on the relatively lower surface to overlie theedge of the rail. Through the use of the clamping bar the rails aresecurely clamped or fixed to the base plate 1 and any tilting orindependent movement of the rails in use is effectively prevented.

In connection with the rail support described I utilize a gage bar 7comprising a strip of metal formed near each end with an offset portion8 to receive the reinforce plate 2 and with a depression 9 to receivethe rib 3 of the reinforce plate. The gage bars are located at anydesired intervals hroughout the length of the track and are secured inplace through the medium of the rivets 4: at the point of connection ofthe gage bar with the track support and also through additional rivets10 disposed beyond the plane of the rivets 1, as clearly seen in Figs. 1and 4. The gage bars are to be formed with the depressions 9 at normalgage, thereby insuring in the use of these gage bars that the rails willbe maintained at gage throughout the length of the track.

The base plates 1 are of such length and so arranged that their ointsbreak with the joints of the rails which they support, so that the railjoints rest upon a solid length of one plate, and the joints of theplates are preferably disposed directly opposite the oints of theopposing rail. This particular arrangement is desirable as I am therebyenabled to utilize one of the gage bars directly beneath the joints ofthe supporting plate of one rail support and the rail joint of the othertrack section, as shown in Fig. 1. As the gage bars are of substantialwidth a most elfeotive reinforce at the joint is thus provided, therebymaterially strengthening my structure at the point where such structuresare ordinarily weak.

The supporting plates 1 are preferably of such width as to form asubstantial bearing for the rails, and with the ribs 3 of the reinforceplate seated in the road-bed, it will be obvious that tilting of therails or other independent movement of the support of this invention ispractically impossible. The reinforce plate tends to prevent any bendingof the reinforce plate 1, while at the same time insures a substantialgrip of the entire support in the re ad-bed, through the medium of therib.

Having thus described the invention What is claimed as new, is

1. A metallic rail support comprising a base plate of greater Width thanthe flange of the rail, a reinforcing plate secured beneath the baseplate, means for securing the rail to the base plate, and means forconnecting the reinforcing plates of the respective rail supports.

2. A metallic support for railroad rails comprising a base plate,areinforcing plate secured beneath the base plate and formed with adependent rib, and gage bars connecting the reinforcing plates of therespective rail supports, said gage bars being formed. to receive theribs of each reinforcing plate.

3. A metallic support for railroad rails comprising a base plate, areinforcing plate secured beneath the base plate and formed With adependent rib, gage bars connecting the reinforcing plates of therespective rail supports, said. gage bars being formed to receive theribs of each reinforcing plate, and rivets uniting the reinforcing plateand base plate, said rivets overlying the edge of the railroad railflange.

4. A. metallic support for railroad rails comprising a base plate, areinforcing plate secured beneath the base plate and formed With adependent rib, gage bars connecting the reinforcing plates of therespective rail supports, said gage bars being formed to receive theribs of each reinforcing plate, rivets uniting the reinforcing platesand base plate, said rivets overlying the edge of the railroad railflange, and clamping bars secured on said rivets to overlie and bearupon the rail flange.

5. A metallic support for railroad rails comprising a base plate, areinforcing plate secured beneath the base plate and formed with adependent rib, and gage bars connecting the reinforcing plates of therespective rail supports, said gage bars being formed to receive thereinforcing plates and rib thereof.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature inpresence of two Witnesses.

CARL R. BOWEN.

Witnesses:

WV. F. LANGE, W. H. BRooKs.

